As the 10-day nationwide protest against bad governance in Nigeria successfully kicked off, the umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, which hitherto had distanced itself from the protest, has thrown its weight behind the mass action declaring that, “Enough is Enough!”
In a press statement by the president of the global body, Comrade Alaye Tari Theophilus on Thursday, day one of the action, noted that bad governance was hurting seriously, the people of the Niger Delta who, bear the brunt of unregulated oil and gas extraction in the region, feeding the nation without evidence of positive impact.
The oil rich region which communities suffer from poverty, livelihood dislocation, heavy militarization with the attendant molestation, and perennial flood and harsh climate change challenges according to him, live under unimaginable deprivation which must be addressed by the federal government. The Nigerian government has been almost silent on the plights of the people beyond a few intervention establishments that invariably service the greed of those on the corridors of power at the center.
The IYC president lamented that there is no energy equity as much of the Niger Delta struggles with darkness even though their land hosts vast gas reserves, while supply of petroleum products, which drives the Nigerian economy, to the interiors and riverine areas are almost non-existent.
“The IYC as a council representing Ijaw youths globally, is here to register our displeasure It is on record that Nigeria has caused a lot of problems; bad governance has caused a lot of problems for the masses. People we have given the mandate to go and manage our resources have decided to impoverish us with our own resources.
“They have decided to give us wrong policies that will impoverish us. …As we speak, in our own state, Bayelsa in particular, we cannot even boast of three hours light a day and we are paying light bills.
“Niger Delta is the oil hub with Bayelsa State having the highest number of gas reserves but, cannot boast of a gas turbine that is working,” he stated.
The IYC called for true federalism to enable states manage their natural resources in a way that will properly address the needs of their people.
“We are begging the federal government, which, is in charge of policy making that we want true federalism as a people. True federalism would enable states carry out projects that truly cater to the needs of the people.
“The federal Government should give us true federalism; that will make Nigeria work so that we can hold our governors accountable for any mismanagement of funds.”
Stressing the peculiarity of the Niger Delta, Comrade Theophilus lamented that his people are facing alarming conditions, lacking employment, battling environmental degradation, with no access to quality health facilities while paying more to access energy.
“The unemployment rate in our communities are alarming. Youths who have graduated and those trained in skills have no employment. It is the duty of government to create an enabling environment so private businesses can create jobs.
“IYC as an organization has said, ‘Enough is enough!’ As a people, we are not satisfied with the current high cost of living. Inflation in the communities is unbecoming. Our people are finding it difficult to access health, death rate is alarming.
“The cost of living is unbecoming; inflation in the riverine areas is above 200 per cent; our people are suffering. As we speak, all the NNPC filling stations in the riverine areas are not functioning. A litre of fuel in our area is N2000. Our people are suffering”.
The IYC listed needed reform areas to include, the introduction of part-time legislature to save cost, upward review of the Federal Amnesty budget to tally with current economic conditions in the country, the extension of the hydro-carbon clean up to all polluted sites in the region, NDDC removed from single treasury account, revival of the refineries, and availability of petroleum products in the communities.
Said he: “The oil and gas environment that we find ourselves, the pollution is alarming. The Ogoni clean-up has been implemented. We want the Ogoni Clean-Up replicated in all areas of the Niger Delta, especially, of Ijaw extraction, NDDC removed from single treasury account to be able to carry out signature projects.
“The Amnesty Programme has been operating on the same budget. Revisit the budget to ally with growing inflation to enable those who accepted amnesty feed their families with comfort and, prevent another crisis.
Demanding sincerity from government, the IYC leader noted that the NNPC and the Petroleum Ministry have failed the people. He accused the federal government of stifling the business community and playing politics with the production of petroleum products in the country.
“The NNPC and government have failed the people. Government is playing politics with the living conditions of the people. You have removed subsidy, today, our refineries are not still working. Petroleum price cannot come down in as much ad we are importing,”. He stressed.
He added: “We have three state-owned refineries. They promised that before the first quarter of 2024, these refineries going to work but all we see are lies upon lies. Those at the corridors of power are too comfortable, and the masses cannot endure it anymore,” the IYC leader bellowed as he asked Ijaw youths to join the protest.
The IYC gave the federal government 90 days to address its peculiar demands or face a shut-down of the Niger Delta.
He announced: “We are sounding it very clear that after this 10-days warning protest, we are giving the federal government 90 days. In that 90 days, if some things that we are agitating for are not put into consideration, the Niger Delta region is going to commence another protest that will end up shutting down the entire Niger Delta because we cannot bear it anymore”.
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